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This is the tenth cache of the “Caerphilly Collection” and is the most northerly of the Rhymney Valley Ridgeway Footpath subset. Although only about ¾ mile from Fochriw, the cache is located in desolate, boggy moorland, devoid of clear paths, and should not be tackled in poor weather unless you are confident of your navigation ability. You should expect a minimum walk of 1½ miles with 150’ of ascent. The container is a medium sized plastic lunch box.
The Caerphilly Collection is distinguished with a unique CC number and is made up of 50 caches. The caches vary in difficulty and type and usually have other “C” word connections – castle, cheese, coal, canal, etc. There may even be Cryptic Clues for Clever Clogs! The current Caerphilly unitary authority grew out of the former Rhymney Valley and Islwyn Councils and stretches from the outskirts of Cardiff and Newport in the south to the Brecon Beacons, north of Rhymney. Despite a past dominated by coal and heavy industry, it has a diverse history and varied and dramatic scenery. We hope you will enjoy exploring it with us.
Towards the end of the Collection is CC48 The Accumulator, the location of which is given in coded form. The translation details of the code are distributed around the whole Collection, but only about a third of the caches will contain a piece of the code, which is on the back of the Log Book. To do the Accumulator, you will need to keep a note of each piece of code that you find. Unless you are very lucky, you will need to find the majority of the Collection in order to do the Accumulator. The Accumulator cache is hidden in an area of difficult terrain and demanding navigation, with a 5,4½ rating.
CC10 is also the tenth of a subset of the main series, which will visit locations on the Rhymney Valley Ridgeway Footpath – hence the RVR10 suffix. Fochriw will not match many people’s image of paradise but you have to remember that most of the village is more than 1000’ above sea level. There is only one reason for the settlement being here, coal – and that reason has gone, though evidence remains. We had to struggle to find an alternative definition for CC but, yes, it is coal consequence! However, we hope that we are not alone in finding a sometimes awesome impressiveness in this harsh landscape. If not, you may still enjoy the views of the upper Rhymney Valley and the Brecon Beacons and you may encounter some semi-wild ponies.
We hope that placing this cache north of Fochriw will encourage some to continue further on the RVR Footpath. Unless you will feel cheated if you miss a bit, we would not recommend going right to the end at Bryn Bach Park – the last couple of miles are rather undistinguished. However, it is worth going to Bute Town, a model estate provided by the Marquis of Bute for ironworkers, at the beginning of the 19th century. Two of the cottages in Lower Row are now the Drenewydd Museum, which has recreated the atmosphere of the 1870’s. Unfortunately, opening times are limited to weekend afternoons between Easter and October – but entry is free! Bute Town is about 3 miles from Fochriw and finding the route over the moorland is a bit tricky – there are plenty of sheep tracks, but which to use, and when, is the dilemma.
The initial treasures in the cache include a gold heart, a dinosaur, fridge magnets, a soft toy animal, a biro and a Brecon Beacons pencil sharpener.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
N erprag svaq ybt ng bar bs bhe pnpurf fhttrfgrq gung bhe uvqvat grpuavdhrf jrer orpbzvat cerqvpgnoyr – fb jr ubcr gung guvf bar qvfcebirf guvf ivrj!